


Lost and Found

by MistressArafax



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Family, Gen, Long Lost/Secret Relatives, M/M, POV First Person
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-13
Updated: 2020-04-13
Packaged: 2021-03-01 19:48:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,437
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23622625
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MistressArafax/pseuds/MistressArafax
Summary: Seto is not at all thrilled by Mokuba searching for their biological relatives, and somehow Joey gets stuck in the middle of the brothers when Mokuba's search is successful.
Relationships: Jounouchi Katsuya | Joey Wheeler/Kaiba Seto
Comments: 10
Kudos: 56





	Lost and Found

**Author's Note:**

> Rated T because Joey's gonna speak like Joey in first person POV.

It had been a rare, peaceful evenin’. One of those where it was just me and Seto, eatin’ dinner and drinkin’ wine, just talkin’ before we went and watched a movie curled up on the couch together. Mokuba had joined us for dinner but had just as quickly disappeared. Prolly playin’ video games in the game room or somethin’.

The movie we were watchin’ wrapped up, and I pressed a kiss to Seto’s forehead, chucklin’ as he stifled a yawn. “Why don’t we go to bed?” I suggested.

He didn’t protest and stood up to follow me. We were almost to the doorway when Mokuba appeared in the hallway in front of us. “Seto!” he exclaimed, excitement hangin’ in his voice. “What were our parents’ names?”

I felt Seto tense beside me. Or maybe that was me tensin’ up in anticipation for the impendin’ answer.

“It doesn’t matter,” he said, devoid of any kind of emotion.

“It does!” Mokuba protested. “I want to see if I can find any of our family using one of the ancestry websites.”

From next to me, Seto growled, “Don’t. They abandoned  _ us _ . I want nothing to do with them.”

He took my hand up possessively, squeezin’ it hard. I knew what he was tryin’ to say without words. That he had all the family he needed right here. That the past should stay in the past.

Mokuba pouted, far more effectively than it prolly shoulda been for a twenty-two year old. “Please! I won’t involve you in it at all. I just need names.”

“No. I don’t want you reaching out, meeting, talking to any of those greedy, heartless bastards.” Every word was said calmly, frigidly, but I could feel his hand tremblin’ in mine. I didn’t say nothin’ though. Not bein’ on Seto’s side would just make him mad at me, and I didn’t want that, but I felt for Mokuba. It didn’t seem likely that every person in their extended family was a piece of shit. He just wanted to know. It wasn’t an unreasonable request at all, but I knew how much Seto hated ‘em. I mean, why wouldn’t he? They sent two kids, their nephews, to an orphanage instead of takin’ care of ‘em. Seto would protect Mokuba from that by keepin’ the information to himself.

“Fine,” Mokuba conceded, huffin’ as he disappeared up the steps back to his room.

Seto sighed in relief next to me, and I squeezed his hand. Silence hung over us like a fog as we made our way to bed. I didn’t know what to say, and Seto was upset and not talkin’. He did that pretty often so I just waited for him to say somethin’ first. He finally did once we settled into bed.

“I’m worried about what might happen if he finds them.”

I wrapped an arm around him, holdin’ him close. “I know. But I think he’s gonna do it anyway. It’s not like ya can stop him if he digs up the information on his own.”

Seto grimaced. “You’re right. I can’t stop him.”

I rubbed Seto’s arm reassurin’ly. “You don’t hafta have anythin’ to do with it, but if he’s gonna figure it out anyway, maybe ya should just tell ‘im their names. Make it a little easier.”

“No,” Seto said. “If he wants it that bad, he can figure it out himself.”

I kissed Seto then, wantin’ to distract him from everythin’ weighin’ on his mind. He was just as eager to let me do it, kissin’ me back, pullin’ me on top of him, and I was more than happy to drown his worries, even if for only a little bit.

-

Admittedly, I forgot all about the incident. Mokuba hadn’t asked about it again, and of course, Seto hadn’t brought it up either. With so much other shit goin’ on, and it not exactly bein’ related to me, I didn’t really have any reason to think about Mokuba’s search for relatives. Not until he took me out to dinner one evenin’ when Seto was busy and told me about his success.

“We have a half-sister,” Mokuba announced after we’d ordered food.

“You… what?” The idea was shockin’. Foreign. Mokuba laughed at me.

“Me and Seto have a half-sister.”

“No way.”

“Yes way. I did a DNA test to see if I could find any DNA matches. I found a few that were kinda distant, but she showed up as being 50% related, so I messaged her. She doesn’t know our dad’s name either, but apparently, he had a girlfriend before he went off to college and met our mom. Girlfriend got pregnant, never told him, and viola. half-sister.”

“I mean… I guess that’s cool,” I said, noncommittally. My brain was still tryin’ to process the information.

“I want to tell Seto, but I don’t really know how.”

“Ya probably shouldn’t,” I said. “He wants nothin’ to do with this.”

“So he says. But I bet he’d be excited to learn about our big sister.”

I shook my head. “He was really upset about ya bringin’ up findin’ family members.”

“Yeah. But he was talking about our aunts and uncles. The ones who abandoned us. Our older half-sister who didn’t even know we existed? What was she gonna do? She didn’t have anything to do with that.”

Mokuba did make a good point. She couldn’t ‘a known. Still, I didn’t think Seto would be keen on meetin’ her, even with her complete separation from their youth. “I don’t know, Mokuba. I still don’t think he’d be happy about it.”

“Come on, Joey,” Mokuba said, givin' me his biggest pout. God why did it work so well?

I heaved a weary sigh. “I don’t think it’s a good idea.”

“What if you met her first? Before Seto.”

I bobbed my head back and forth, still unsure, but I agreed. I couldn’t ever deny Mokuba. Apparently, I was a bigger pushover when it came to ‘im than even Seto himself. Quite the feat.

-

Two weeks later, Mokuba dragged me out of the house, pointedly makin' Seto stay behind. Which would leave Seto suspicious, so I knew I'd be grilled with questions as soon as I got back. I didn’t even really think about what was goin’ on, but when we showed up at a family style restaurant, Mokuba wavin’ at some woman I’d never met, it suddenly became very obvious. This was their half-sister.

“Mokuba?” she asked, standing up from her chair.

“Yeah! Liz?”

She smiled, bright and happy. “That’s me.”

They’d clearly spoken to each other quite a bit online already considerin' how happily they’d greeted each other. “Liz, this is my brother-in-law, Joey.”

She looked at me curiously, and her physical resemblance to her half-brothers became immediately obvious. The same high cheekbones and intelligent eyes. The same dimples in her cheek. She resembled Seto a bit more, with the brown hair and blue eyes. “You’re… Seto’s husband, right?” she asked.

“Yeah,” I answered.

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this interaction, but when she laughed and clasped her hands together, I started to relax. “I’m Elizabeth Wright, but everyone just calls me Liz. I’m so happy to meet both of you, honestly. I never thought I had brothers. I mean… I suppose it wasn’t that far-fetched, but it was such a shock. And that I knew who you were…”

Mokuba grinned, clearly feelin’ an immediate connection with her. And I can’t say I blamed him. She was obviously related to ‘em, and she was real happy and nice. She showed us pictures of her kids. Talked about her husband and job. Mokuba relayed similar information, tellin’ her about KaibaCorp work and Seto.

When she asked about me, it felt like I was talkin’ to my own big sister or somethin’. She listened and asked curious, sincere questions. I didn’t really say much, a little wary about lettin’ some stranger know about my personal life, but there was just somethin’ soothin’ about her. And maybe it was because she was pretty similar to the softer side of Seto I got to see when we were alone together. Like maybe Seto could’a been like her if things had been different.

“We should meet up again,” Liz suggested as we passed the two hour mark, havin’ gotten lost in conversation.

“Definitely,” Mokuba agreed. “Bring your kids next time. I’d love to meet them!”

“Would you come, Joey?” she asked.

“Mmm, yeah. But it might be kinda tough to sneak by Seto. He’s gonna grill me as soon as I get home ‘bout what we were doin’ for so long tonight.”

Mokuba shrugged. “We’ll just bring him along next time.”

My hesitance at the idea must ‘a been written right across my face because Liz jumped in to tell me it was fine. "I don't need to meet Seto if he doesn't want to meet me," she said. "I don't want to cause any trouble."

Mokuba rolled his eyes. "He really needs to get over himself. It would be good for him."

Liz met my eyes and smiled encouragin'ly. "No, Mokuba. As much as I'd love to meet him, it's not fair to him to trick him into doing something he doesn't want. If he changes his mind in the future and agrees to meet me, then I'll gladly visit, but I won't force myself into his life without being welcome." 

Her words made me realize that Seto really did need to meet her. He needed to know he had family, real biological family outside of Mokuba, that actually cared about him. And I decided I'd try to get Seto on board with meetin' her. Eventually. But I didn’t see a reason to rush it.

Shortly after that, dinner wrapped up, and we all headed our separate ways after Mokuba paid. Before partin', Liz gave me her phone number, tellin' me to keep in touch. I nodded, unsure if or when I'd ever see her again, but I hoped. I hoped that someday I'd meet her husband and kids, and that Seto would agree to come along too.

-

Seto was nowhere to be found when I got home, but I knew he was home. The only place he ever went without me was work or other company-related shit. But honestly, I didn't really look too hard because I was hopin' not to find 'im and get interrogated. So I just headed to bed, plannin' on messin' with my phone until I fell asleep.

It almost worked. I had my phone on the nightstand and was almost out when Seto walked into the bedroom. I tried pretendin' I was asleep when he climbed in bed, but he knew me too well.

"I know you're up. Where did you and Mokuba go tonight?" he asked as he settled under the comforter beside me.

I tensed up. "Jus' to a diner."

"Why was he so adamant about me not going with you?"

I didn't know what to say to ‘im. I could lie, but that would prolly come back to bite me in the ass, and the truth would jus' piss 'im off. "Can we not talk 'bout this right now?" I asked with a resigned sigh.

Which was the exact wrong thing to say because Seto's hand fell heavy on my arm, squeezin’ tightly. "Why?" 

"'Cause ya ain't gonna like the reason, and I don't wanna argue with you right now. I just wanna enjoy bein' in bed with you without fightin'."

After a moment, Seto let go of my arm and rolled over with a huff, obviously irritated with me. "Fine."

I rolled toward ‘im, putting an arm around his waist even as he tried to get away from me. "It was Mokuba's thing. I just went along for moral support. He's really the one you should talk to."

"I said, 'Fine.' Just leave me alone," he said bitterly.

I shuffled closer to him, pressin' a kiss to the back of his neck in an attempt to distract him. I didn't want ‘im angry. It was what I'd been tryin' to avoid from the beginnin'.

"Don't touch me," Kaiba barked, tensin' up in my arms. "I told you to leave me alone."

I sighed, movin' away from him and layin' on my back to stare up at the ceilin'. Debatin' whether I should just tell him since he was mad now anyways. "Mokuba took me to meet someone tonight. And she's really nice."

"Why would he hide a girlfriend from me?" Seto asked, rollin' over to meet my eyes.

I kept my gaze fixed on the ceilin', swallowin' hard while gatherin' my resolve. "Because she ain't his girlfriend. She's...your half-sister."

"What?" Seto hissed.

"Mokuba found her usin' that DNA matchin' stuff. And so ya know, she ain't got nothin' to do with the family that abandoned ya."

I glanced over at Seto, seein' the glower on his face. I opted to keep talkin' to try to ease the mood. "Mokuba didn't wanna go alone, and he knew you wouldn't go. So he asked me to come with 'im instead. I know how ya feel about the whole findin' your relatives stuff, but I also know how Mokuba feels, so when he asked me to tag along, I couldn't say no. I jus'...I don't wanna fight about this. I don't wanna fight because I'm stuck between you two."

"I will speak to Mokuba about this," Seto announced. He once again rolled on his side, facin' away from me. He didn't say nothin' else, and an uneasy feelin’ settled in the pit of my stomach. It kept me up too late, churnin’ away until I eventually fell asleep.

-

Seto wasn't in bed when I got up, which wasn't that much of a surprise in general but was even less so after goin' to bed pissy with me. I climbed out and headed to the kitchen for breakfast, where I found Mokuba. He scowled at me.

"Why'd you tell him?" he asked angrily.

"Ain't like I can lie to him," I said, resignin' to the fact that both brothers were now upset wit' me. "He asked what we were doin'. I told 'im the truth."

"You didn't have to tell him anything, Joey. He doesn't want to know."

"Then ya shouldn't 'a drug me into it."

Mokuba crossed his arms and glared, and I would 'a been afraid except Seto's glare was always way more menacin'. "Fine. Whatever. I won't bother you with it anymore."

"I like Liz. I really do. I think it would be great for both of ya to have her in your life. But like… Seto is my husband, and I gotta support him. I ain't gonna fight him over this."

Mokuba slinked off, leavin' me some in the kitchen to have breakfast by myself. I felt uneasy for the rest of the day, and I desperately wanted to talk to Seto. With him not being in his study, I figured he'd gone into work despite it bein' the weekend, and that said plenty about how upset he was.

Since I'm not the kinda person to sit by and wait for shit to happen, I got in my car and drove to KaibaCorp myself. I used the time to think about what I was gonna tell Seto. I wasn't gonna apologize, and I doubted he even wanted me to, but I wanted to smooth things over. I honestly wasn't sure how I was gonna do it, even after the drive and then standin' in front of the door to Seto's office, but I had to try.

I walked in, notin' the clack of keys on the keyboard as he typed. They stopped for a moment, Seto registerin' that I was here, before resumin'.

"I wanted to see ya, but ya left," I said as I sat down on the chair in front of his desk.

"I'm busy."

I rolled my eyes. "Ya ain't busy. You're findin' a distraction."

Seto looked up from his screen, staring at me blankly. "I am busy. 'Elizabeth Wright. Thirty-two years old. Graduated college with a degree in engineering with honors. Lead engineer at Tinsley Consulting'," he read aloud. "She's married. She has two children. She lives an hour outside the city."

I blinked, takin' a moment to process what he'd said. "You looked her up?"

"I'm having a background check run on her."

"Why? I thought ya didn't want to be involved."

"If Mokuba is going to spend time with her, I want to verify there's nothing questionable about her. That's all."

"Ya sure? You ain't even a little curious for yourself?"

Seto's eyes narrowed. "No. This is for Mokuba's safety."

"Ya wanna know what I think?" I asked, leanin' forward.

"No, but I suppose you'll tell me anyway."

I grinned. Seto knew me too well. "I think she's really nice, and she's definitely related to ya. I ain't sayin' ya should go meet her, but maybe jus' think about it. She's your dad's illegitimate kid, born years before you were, and didn't even know you existed. Give her a chance."

Seto sighed, clearly displeased. "Go home, Joseph."

"Fine, okay. But jus' think about it. For Mokuba's sake."

I went home after that, unsure where things would head now but satisfied with knowin' that Seto wasn't too upset with me. That he was at least considerin’ my suggestion. That was good enough for the moment.

-

"Hey, Joey?" Mokuba started tentatively. Things had been a bit strained between us for the past month or so. "Liz invited me over for a barbeque today. You think you could cover for me?"

"Just tell Seto what you're doin'. He ain't gonna stop ya from goin'."

"He'll give me a hard time about it," Mokuba whined. “Please.”

"This is between the two of you. Just tell 'im."

And I could tell from the look on his face that he wasn't goin' to, but then Seto walked in. "What are you two talking about?" he asked, castin' a suspicious look between us.

"Mokuba was gonna ask ya somethin'," I offered quickly, earnin' myself a glare from the younger brother for throwin' him under the bus.

“It’s nothing,” Mokuba said.

Seto quirked his eyebrow. “If you say so.”

I sighed hard. It wasn’t like I could make ‘em actually communicate with each other. I wasn’t gonna tell Seto for Mokuba either.

“Oh fine,” Mokuba huffed. “Liz is having a barbeque, and I want to go.”

Seto tensed for a second and then relaxed, saying, “That’s fine. Do as you please.”

“Really?”

I chuckled, taunting, “I told ya he wouldn’t stop ya. Do you wanna go too?”

Seto blinked at me in surprise. “Why would I want to go?”

“Because you’re curious about your big sister?” I suggested. “Come on. Ya don’t have to stay long. You and I can drive separately, and we’ll leave whenever you’re ready to go.”

I thought for sure Seto would say no. I was mostly teasin’ him. To my utter surprise, he agreed. And even as we went upstairs to change into “picnic attire” as Seto called it, I told him he didn’t have to go. “I’ve already made up my mind,” Seto said.

An hour and a half later, we were pullin’ up a rather long driveway to a modern two-story house. There were lots a’ cars parked along the driveway, and I thought maybe we’d made a mistake by comin’. Determination radiated off of Seto, even if it looked kinda silly when he was wearin’ khakis and a pastel blue polo instead of a suit. I took his hand, more to soothe myself than him, but he squeezed back, and I knew he appreciated the gesture.

As we walked around back, I instantly recognized Liz, standin’ with a bunch of other ladies. She waved us over. “Joey! Mr. Kaiba! Come on over!”

She left the group she was talkin’ to and focused on us. Seto was tense beside me. “Hey, Liz,” I greeted. “Nice to see ya again!”

“I’m glad you could make it,” she said, her smile radiant. “I’m sure this isn’t your usual kind of thing, but make yourself at home.”

Seto couldn’t really settle, stickin’ out like a sore, overdressed thumb. Neither one of us knew anyone else beyond Mokuba, so we kinda just stayed off to the side together. Until a little boy came up to us. “Oh! You’re Seto Kaiba! And Joey Wheeler!” he said excitedly. “I’ve watched you duel on TV! I love Duel Monsters”

“You betcha!” I said, rufflin’ his hair. “What’s your name, kiddo?”

“Travis.”

Talkin’ about Duel Monsters helped put Seto at ease and bein’ around the kid didn’t hurt. I think he was even havin’ fun. Travis showed off his collection of cards, and while he didn’t quite have a full grasp on the game yet, it was clear he loved it. “Mommy told me we’re related,” he said suddenly.

Seto huffed softly. “We are. I suppose that makes me your uncle then.”

His mouth formed into a wide O, his awe evident. “That’s so cool.”

I chuckled. “Uncle Seto and I can teach ya all about the game. How ‘bout it, Travis?”

The kid nodded enthusiastically. He paid attention for about ten minutes before gettin’ bored, and honestly, with a five year old, I couldn’t say I was all that surprised. He eventually ran off to go play with his friends, and I kinda missed him. “He’s a good kid,” I told Seto.

“Mmm,” he agreed.

Liz came up behind us, shakin’ her head. “He’s very enthusiastic. Thank you for spending so much time with him.”

“S’no problem. Seto likes kids. I mean, I do too.”

“I’m surprised you came along, Mr. Kaiba. I was under the impression you didn’t want to meet me.”

Seto hummed noncommittally.

She didn’t press him for an answer, but she looked at him thoughtfully. “Looking at you like this, it’s almost funny how much you look like him. My father. My mom only ever showed me one picture of him and wouldn’t tell me his name, but… you look like him.”

Seto nodded his head. “I know.”

“What was he like?” Liz asked gently. “I never got to meet him.”

“He was a kind father,” Seto said after a moment. “If… if he’d known about you, I’m sure he’d have provided for you. But I suppose it wouldn’t have made much of a difference anyway. He died when I was eight-years-old.”

“Yeah. Mokuba mentioned that he’d passed away. I mean… obviously. You were adopted by Mr. Kaiba.”

I stood beside Seto, holdin’ his hand to offer reassurance. He never talked about this shit, brushin’ over it whenever me or Mokuba asked. I stopped botherin’ after a while, but he was talkin’ to Liz about it like it wasn’t some closely held secret. “Yes.”

“I’m sorry. I think… I think if Mom had known about you two, she’d have tried to adopt you herself.”

“It was a different time,” Seto said softly, “and it’s hardly your mother’s fault.”

“I was wondering if you could tell me about our dad sometime. You don’t have to right now. You can take your time. Your brother is a lovely person, but I know he doesn’t know much. Just… whatever you’re comfortable with.”

“I…” Seto said, surprisin’ly at a loss for words. “I will. Someday.”

“Thank you,” she returned, smiling gently. “I appreciate it.”

Wanting to steer the conversation elsewhere and save Seto the discomfort, I cleared my throat. “I’m glad you two can get along. I was kinda worried ya wouldn’t.”

Liz cocked an eyebrow at me, and I had to bite back laughter because the expression was identical to Seto’s. “Mr. Kaiba wouldn’t bother his big sister, would he?”

“If Mokuba’s behavior is any indication, I believe little brothers are meant to be as irritating as possible."

She laughed, bright and entertained. “Give me your worst then, Seto Kaiba.”

He chuckled, and I finally allowed myself to feel relieved. They definitely did get along. And maybe it wasn’t perfect, but it was a start.

“Come on,” Liz said. “I’ll introduce you to everyone.”

She led us around, introducin’ us to her husband, Daniel, and daughter, Emilia, and most of the other guests. I’d never remember all their names after one meetin’, but Seto would. And they’d all remember us because most of ‘em already knew Seto just from him bein’ the face of KaibaCorp and doin’ advertisements and publicity stuff. We ate cheeseburgers and deviled eggs and potato salad, and it was so weird seein’ Seto in such a… normal settin’. Sittin’ at a picnic table with a paper plate full of food. I was conversin’ with Mokuba and one of Liz’s friends, but Seto just sat there. And I knew he was still feelin’ out of place, but he was also not upset. I’d ‘a known if he was.

After dinner, dessert was set out, and I sampled a few cookies. Had a little ice cream. I offered some to Seto, but I could tell he was ready to go from the way he half-heartedly declined. I came up to him and put a hand on his lower back. “Wanna head out?”

He simply nodded.

“Let’s go say bye then.”

He followed after me as we went and found our hosts and thanked ‘em.

“Oh, you’re very welcome, Joey,” Liz said. “I’ll be sure to invite you to future get-togethers.”

“I’d like that,” I said.

“Me too,” Seto added quietly from beside me.

“You can contact me whenever, Mr. Kaiba. I’d like to get to know you better, if that’s okay.”

He nodded and then added, “You can call me Seto. We’re family, after all.”

I almost gasped, totally surprised, but Liz smiled up at him. “Okay. I will.” She gave me a hug goodbye and waved at Seto as we headed on our way.

Settled in the car, windows open, Seto sighed, obviously in relief. “You were right,” he said. “She is nice.”

“Did you enjoy yourself? I know that kinda thing isn’t really your thing.”

Seto reached out and took my hand, threadin’ our fingers together. “It was pleasant enough. I’m glad I went.”

“I’m really glad. And I’m sure Mokuba is, too.”

Seto hummed in agreement, the engine drownin’ it out. I couldn’t tell exactly what was on his mind, but when I glanced over at him, he had the slightest smile on my face, and I guessed he was content. And if he was content, well, I was too.

**Author's Note:**

> Loosely based on real events. About fifteen years ago, my grandma met her long lost half-brother at the age of 75 thanks to their children using ancestry.com. Since then, I know the process has only gotten more broad, and I thought it would be fun to having the brother's find a long lost relative. It's... not that impossible considering their situation.
> 
> Anyway, let me know what you think! And hopefully you liked Liz too. ^^


End file.
